Ken MacDonald has been described as a "master french hornist" by the Toronto Star. His career has taken him to every area of Canada: from Saltspring Island, to Cape Spear Newfoundland, to Nunavut. Born in Vancouver, Ken graduated from the University of BC directly into a position as principal horn of Symphony Nova Scotia. Subsequent engagements as principal horn with the Vancouver Opera and the Hamilton Philharmonic also led to short-term principal contracts with such groups as the Canadian Opera Company and the Vancouver Symphony.

As a chamber musician, Ken has appeared with many of the nation’s top festivals, including a ten-year association with the Festival of the Sound in Parry Sound. Recent solo commissions include Malcom Forsyth’s Concerto for Eight, premiered at Rideau Hall by invitation of then Governor-General Adrienne Clarkson, and Heather Schmidt’s Light and Dark, a double concerto written for Ken and famed violist Rivka Golani.

Ken has an interest in primate proto-culture which led to a research trip to Borneo in 2004. His study of wild orangutans and their responses to music, as a cultural commonality between them and humans, was recognized by leading primatologists, and was published and cited in several sources.

Ken is associate principal horn with the Winnipeg Symphony and principal horn of the Hamilton Philharmonic.